At Debate-Watching Party in Suburban Ohio, Voters Are Less Than Thrilled

WORTHINGTON, Ohio — Theater seats? Check. Shrimp cocktails and crudités? Check. Flat-screen television with the volume low just waiting for the big show to start? Check.

People who have been un-friended on Facebook by relatives because of their political views? Oh, yes.

The first night of truly must-see TV this fall season for the Gardner and Jernigan families in this suburb of Columbus was the first presidential debate Wednesday evening between President Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger.

Jeremy Gardner, 32, a software developer and independent voter, hosted a small viewing party in a cozy living room where his two Chihuahuas were jumping around, looking truly excited.

Before the debate, the tensions were building. (There were partisans in the room.)

“I’m getting an eye twitch!” said Heather Jernigan, Mr. Gardner’s sister-in-law. An Obama supporter, she worried that even if he did well, his opponents would give his performance a negative review. “Rainbows could shoot out of his ears and it wouldn’t matter,” said Ms. Jernigan, who works for an insurer.

Mr. Gardner was open to being swayed, but said he was leaning toward Mr. Obama.

Brent Jernigan, 48, a business consultant who is married to Ms. Jernigan and likes Mr. Obama, is the ultimate solo fact checker. It was his fact-checking on Facebook that cost him his aunt’s friendship. What did those gathered here want out of the candidates’ performance?

“I want to see an actual plan from Romney,” Mr. Jernigan said. “I’d like to see Obama be very forceful in defending his own actions as president. And I wouldn’t be opposed to a highly entertaining moment from Romney, something like, ‘I can see Russia from my house!’ ”

After the debate, the group did not shift their views. “I don’t know the specifics of these things, so some of it didn’t mean a lot to me,” said Mr. Gardner, the host. “Like I said before we started, I hate the ‘I’m going to repeal what you did and do something that’s better!’ Who doesn’t want to hear that? Basically nothing changed for me.”

Scenes from the evening:

9:02 p.m. President Obama’s opening lines, wishing Michelle Obama a happy 20th anniversary, earned him a few sympathetic “awwws” from the women in the room. But Mr. Romney got a good reaction, too, when he joked about the debate being a “romantic place” for him and the president.

Then, it was on to the economy.

Mr. Romney’s contention that he would reduce the tax burden on the middle class and reduce the deficit confused some of the debate watchers here in Worthington.

“But what about his own statements about the across-the-board 20 percent tax cuts?” Mr. Jernigan asked out loud.

Photo

From left, Heather Jernigan, Megan Gardner and Brent Jernigan watching the debate in Worthington, Ohio.Credit
Michael F. McElroy for The New York Times

Mr. Romney repeated his claim that his tax plan would not add to the national debt, and that income earners at the top would not get extra breaks. “Well, then you can’t accomplish the things you promise,” Mr. Jernigan said to the television. “He’s basically completely backed off saying he’s going to do an across-the-board tax cut.”

Mr. Gardner’s wife, Megan, added, “Is this him not standing by his word?”

9:56 p.m. Is Medicare changing? Both candidates insisted that nothing would change for seniors today. “Future seniors” got a lot of attention. From the audience here, so did the personal style of the candidates as they answered the Medicare questions.

Mr. Gardner said, “Can Obama speak? He’s just been standing there for a few minutes.”

Mr. Jernigan did not reply; he was busy fact-checking.

10:08 p.m. Numbers. Numbers. There were so many numbers. What was the impact of the figures overload?

“I think that these figures will be lost on a lot of people who aren’t paying careful attention,” Mr. Jernigan said.

Mr. Gardneradded, “And the numbers are so specific. But what’s a trillion dollars over 10 years? It’s an arbitrary number. What does that mean?

“Seems like it’s more impactful or might seem more believable to some people to hear specific numbers,” Mr. Gardner said. “But if these numbers are false, it’s going to be off-putting.”

10:43 p.m. Ms. Gardner and Ms. Jernigan both felt frustrated at the end of the debate, despite Mr. Obama calling it “terrific” in his closing statement.

“I was really kind of hoping Romney would say some stuff that I’d understand, as far as what his plans are,” Ms. Jernigan said. “And I don’t feel that this has clarified anything for me.”

Ms. Gardner, a homemaker and dog breeder, said, “I felt that Obama lost some of his passion. This time, when he was speaking, he just didn’t have that.”

A version of this article appears in print on October 4, 2012, on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: At Debate-Watching Party in Suburban Ohio, Voters Are Less Than Thrilled. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe